Learning to Feel
by Me Llamo Berry
Summary: Akihiko Kayaba had always dreamed of sharing his world with others, a world he created, and didn't have to leave. A world they could all enjoy forever. He didn't count on so many people disliking his way of keeping people in the game and he didn't expect so many deaths so early on in the game. Nor did he expect to save a girl from dying.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n I don't use any Japanese honorifics, or write their names properly. I wrote this as if it was being translated into English. Mostly because I don't like mixing languages, and also because I don't feel confident in using them correctly.**

* * *

Akihiko Kayaba was pleased. His game had sold 10000 copies, with many more downloaded. By the time he was ready to put his plan in motion, almost all of them were logged in. This meant 10,000 players to well... play with. He could hardly wait to share his world with others. Only a few more minutes before he gave his announcement. Logging out had been disabled for nearly half an hour, and people were starting to notice. He triggered the next phase as the time was reached. He teleported everyone in the game to the center of the first town in the game.

Everyone watched a figure form out of what looked like blood dripping out of the red sky. They were whispering together, confused about the turn of events. However, most of them were confident that the error of no logging out would be fixed. Some people had a bad feeling in the pit of their stomach but tried to think positive.

One girl, 17, twirled her dark blue hair as she waited for this whole spectacle to be finished. She wanted to keep playing. So the sooner this was over with, the sooner she could keep working out how to play. She wasn't too concerned with being unable to log out. It wasn't like anyone was home anyways.

Despite it being his announcement, Kayaba was using his avatar in the shadows, so that he didn't have to act the part of a surprised and horrified player, but everyone could see that he was indeed there. He would be inputting what his GM avatar would say from his position, since he had full admin access to everything including the internet. Hopefully it would all go well and he could stay unnoticed. He was very careful however, and for the moment, had his menu invisible to other players.

"Attention players. Welcome to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba and as of this moment, I am in control of this world."

Players started whispering, wondering if it was really him. Heathcliff smirked. The best announcement was yet to come. No one would have to leave ever unless they died or managed to clear the world. It hadn't occurred to him yet that most players, while they enjoy games, don't want to live in them.

"I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game." Stunned silence. "I repeat this is not a defect in the game but a key feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO on your own power. No one outside the game can shut down or remove the NerveGear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, the transmitter inside NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."

People were already beginning to freak out. Heathcliff sighed. It was regrettable but it was the only way to keep people here to play. There was just no fun in a game where people could leave whenever they wanted.

"Despite my warning, the family and friends of players have attempted to forcibly remove the NerveGear. As a result we are 213 players less than what we began with. They have been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world." News reports appeared and floated around the figure. "As you can see, media outlets around the world have around the clock coverage on everything including the deaths. At this point, you can be assured that the likelihood of your NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a measure of comfort as you attempt to clear the game. It is important to remember the following. There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If you HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever, and the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There is only one way for a player to escape now. You must clear the game. Right now you are gathered on Floor 1, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor 100 and you will clear the game."

Loud outbursts, unable to be held in any longer, accompanied this statement. Heathcliff observed with some amusement at the expected behavior. He hadn't designed it to be impossible after all, nor even improbable. Just... difficult. And any additional difficulty would be brought on by themselves, not him.

"Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look."

At this point, Heathcliff took out the item and pretended it worked, he had programmed a few changes to his avatar with the item. All around him people were freaking out. Yelling about people who'd been girls before, and there did seem to be a significant drop in female avatars. Heathcliff chuckled quietly. He wasn't the only one amused. One girl saw her real face in the mirror after a moment of disorientation. She then knew what was going on with the items and started laughing at other people. At least she hadn't falsified herself much beyond making herself skinny rather than stocky and giving herself different colored hair. Other people however had to reap the results of lying about themselves. And the reactions were priceless, despite the situation. Heathcliff noted some of the things people were saying as he prepared the last bit of information.

"Right now you're probably wondering why. Why would Akihito Kayaba developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design. As you can see, I've achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. I wish you the best of luck." Heathcliff had lied a bit, he didn't want to admit that he'd always been a dreamer, and besides it was more dramatic this way even though he wasn't going to do much meddling in the game beyond his role as a player up until the last few floors before floor 100.

The figure and forcefield faded, leaving behind a shocked crowd of players. Heathcliff watched smugly, leaning against a pillar. A stunned and horrified silence reigned until chaos of people protesting, shouting, and crying broke out. Heathcliff looked around, sighing a little as he realized not one wanted to be there. They would embrace it eventually. They had no choice.

He waited until he saw other players leave the square before doing so himself, mentally revising his plans. He'd need to lay low, and try to fit in somehow before he did anything. Besides, all the better to level up and practice. He had to look like he earned any boost the system gave him. Besides, if he didn't practice a skill and work for it but just gave it to himself, he could possibly screw it up majorly, which wouldn't be good either for his image. For now, it'd probably be better to leave off the immortal object protection because everyone was going to fall into the yellow at this point.

Heathcliff continued planning as he wandered out of the city into one of the fields. As he thought, he always running into the stumbling block of how he would blend in. He sighed and put that off for now, turning to fighting the boars. Since he designed them, he didn't have any trouble figuring out how to fight them. However, he hadn't expected to lose as much health as he did. At that point, he decided to give up for the day and head for some rest. It was a good start at least.

* * *

Daja sat off in a corner of the starting city, just thinking. And wondering if she understood Kayaba correctly. She was fairly certain she got the idea of dying in game and reality correctly and that they had to clear the game... everything else... She wasn't sure. She'd only started learning Japanese two years previous, when her mom was stationed at the US Air Force base in Japan. It'd been a huge displacement. And she still hadn't made friends. Buying SAO for Daja... That had been her mom trying to cheer her up, yet again, and it was also an early birthday present. Daja sighed, wondering how her mom was taking this. Probably terribly, her mom's whole life was the military and raising her. She leaned back against the wall, staring at the sky.

The first few hours in this world... had been amazing. She had never felt this alive, this... special. She figured out how to kill one of those boars by herself, took several tries and she nearly died. She shuddered. Funny to think how a few hours ago that just meant starting over. Now... it meant nothing followed. Nothing. She stood up and stretched. Better work on gaining exp then. If she couldn't live in the real world, she could live in this world. And best to start with some training.

She spent her time avoiding other players whenever possible, so usually all the time. But it was worth it as she moved on from the city. She was getting the hang of not dying, and had a better idea of her limits now. She really liked using a dagger as well as a one handed sword. She tried a few other weapons at one of the shops, but none really appealed to her. That was okay. Her current weapons suited her just fine.

Two weeks after the game had launched, Daja went to talk to some NPCs about a quest she'd heard about after training hard for most of the day. There were several repetitive ones on this floor, and it sounded like there would be less on each floors, and as the floor level went higher, the more often the quest could only be completed once. So it was better to complete quests on the first floor for items and experience than later on if one wanted a decent chance at the experience.

She only hoped her level was high enough, but it sounded like it should be, despite most people avoiding quests altogether. It was more her overall experience that worried her; how would she handle the situations like that? Training and even traveling was easy enough, the enemies weren't overwhelming and were rather easy to fight. But a situation where she had to fight off enemies from an area because they were scaring the NPCs... that was another story. At least it wasn't the boss though, she doubted she could handle that even with other players around. She took a deep breath before listening to the NPC prattle on about the problem, nodding in the right places, and getting some valuable information about the enemies. They only appeared at night, and overall, those sort of enemies were the most dangerous to fight. This would take some careful thought.

"Alright, I'll head to that cabin right away," she responded at the end. She knew that cabin, everyone did, it was near one of the training fields in this area. Since the enemies don't appear until the quest is activated, no one would've noticed, but it did give her a better idea of the terrain. Lots of trees, she would have to be careful about attacks from above. She double checked her supplies. Yes, she was prepared enough.

Daja headed out there, and sat in the shade, hidden pretty well. She waited patiently for night to fall, figuring it was better to just get it over with than overtraining some more. She watched other people train, some rather determined, others breaking down at the drop of a hat. She sighed.

As much as she didn't mind being stuck here minus the whole dying bit, watching other people was rather depressing. No one wanted to die. So they sat and sulked and cried about it instead of doing something, and sure that was understandable... but two weeks... They... all of them... needed to get a move on. Daja heaved a heavy sigh. No sign of the first floor boss, and the dungeon was barely searched since most people needed to get their bearings. Hopefully this progress wasn't indicative of how it would go later on.

An older man, gray haired, caught her attention. He seemed to be trying to use a sword and a shield in conjunction. It wasn't working too well, but it was better than most attempts at fighting she'd seen. There had been a few other good players, but most had already moved on from this town. Daja didn't consider herself very good, just a player trying to survive on her own. After this quest though, she'd move on. It was getting harder to get exp in the fields.

"Finally... nightfall," Daja muttered as she watched the sunset. She had nearly fallen asleep as she waited. Most people had left the training fields. It still took her breath away how pretty sunsets were in the game, even though its a completely virtual world.

She stood up from her spot in the shade of a tree, hidden by some bushes and stretched. She didn't notice that one of the few who hadn't left yet saw her. The girl took out her sword and prepared herself mentally for nightfall, which was now only a few seconds away. She walked towards the cabin, noticing an NPC staring out the window in fear.

Daja tensed, looking around for the enemies and wondering when they would appear. She took a few more steps... and one pounced from above. She yelped in surprise, she'd checked above her but saw nothing. She shook it off and slashed it a few times with her sword. It had more health than she expected. She knew enemies that spawned at night tended to be stronger, but she didn't realize it would be this strong. While she was killing that enemy... the others surrounded her. She spun and cursed under her breath as she counted at least ten.

With a sinking heart, she realized she was dead. It just hadn't happened yet. She probably could've handled five enemies of that strength on her own. More than that... she was doomed. The girl took a deep breath and prepared to fight anyways. She didn't want to go down without a fight like many players had.

She fought and killed the one in front of her, ignoring the attacks draining her health from behind. It wasn't like she knew how to block them. She managed to kill three more enemies before she fell to her knees. Everything was blurry, but that didn't stop her from swinging her sword around. It was weird, she could feel some pain, but it wasn't as bad as she expected. She fell over completely, managing to twist and land on her back. She blinked up at the enemies above her, and waited for death to come.

They crowded around her. She stared defiantly at the one with the sword, waiting for the final blow. It raised its sword, and she flinched, eyes closing briefly. The blow never came. She opened her eyes, and stared. She was no longer surrounded. She slowly sat up, gaping.

Someone had saved her, to her disbelief. She had made no friends or even acquaintances, keeping to herself, and yet... someone actually came to her aid. That someone was struggling against the final two enemies. She gasped; he seemed to be losing. So she did the first thing her mind thought of. She threw her dagger at one of the enemies. It stumbled, distracted. It was all the gray-haired man needed to destroy it before turning to the final one.

Daja let out a weak cheer before exhaustion and low health caught up with her. She fainted. Her savior dispatched the last of the enemies before rushing over. He frantically took out his only potion and gave it to her. He knew it would take a while before she would start healing, but thankfully her health wasn't low enough that she'd die before it could take effect.

"This wasn't supposed to happen..." Heathcliff muttered as he looked around. This quest... It was only supposed to appear after the first floor had been cleared. Maybe he shouldn't have let the Cardinal system control things after all. It was making things too hard, too soon. Unfortunately it was too late now to regain control. He sighed and picked the girl up. First he had to pick up the reward for the quest, and then he wasn't sure, especially if she hadn't woken up by then. He went inside the cabin and talked to the NPCs to receive the reward.

"Thank you," the NPC finished its rambling spiel. "I hope you can get more use out of this sword than I can." Heathcliff shifted the girl so that he could take it. He nodded to the NPC and left silently. As he walked, he placed the sword in his inventory because it was rather difficult carrying the girl and the sword.

As he walked towards the city on the path, carefully avoiding any enemies, he started thinking again. About all the deaths that had occurred. That was another thing that wasn't supposed to happen, he'd purposely set the level of the enemies on floor one at no more than level 5 so that people wouldn't die. Then again if Cardinal system went against the original settings once, it could do it again.

And who knew how many of those deaths were suicides? Heathcliff sighed heavily. This wasn't what he envisioned when he planned this all out. He planned for people being determined to get out. To begin enjoying themselves. It seemed he did not understand human psychology. He miscalculated, and the game wasn't even fun for him right now, not with most people barely even trying. But it should pick up soon, more and more people were starting to train and move on, realizing they wouldn't get out of the game while feeling sorry for themselves.

People dying wasn't really his intention either, it was an unfortunate side effect, a calculated risk. And in two weeks, his calculations for how many would die over a six months were surpassed. If he'd known that, he would have only bluffed and made sure people couldn't log on, letting people believe they'd die when they didn't. He paused that train of thought and then sighed. That wouldn't change their reactions. And he had no clue what would've been a better course of action to keep people in the game to play it.

He reached an inn and entered it, shifting the girl in his arms slightly so that he could sign in and get a room for two, he wasn't sure she'd be okay on her own. She should've woken up by now, so she probably had overworked herself. He sighed at that thought. That was another common sight these days. Some of the time, those people ended up dying because they collapsed in a dangerous area, thankfully usually the rest of the time they were accompanied by other players. But this girl... this girl was alone. He frowned. Not many players chose to go solo. It was an option of course, but with a chance of dying, most people chose safety in numbers. He set her on the first bed.

Heathcliff took off the armor he'd accumulated (it wasn't really much). He removed the sword from his inventory and set it on the table before sitting on the second bed. Despite the time, he didn't really feel that tired. Actually, he felt guilty that he hadn't seen the girl sooner, and that he hadn't realized she would need help sooner. Seeing someone die in front of him was horrible. It'd already happened once. He didn't want to see it happen again. After a while of debating what to do, he decided it would do no good if he exhausted himself by not sleeping, and so went to bed.

* * *

Daja woke slowly the next morning, all her senses screaming that something was 'off.' She blinked a few times, staring at what she recognized as a ceiling at an inn. That's when it all came rushing back, going on the quest, being overwhelmed, thinking she would die... And then... nothing. So how did she end up in an inn...? She sat up slowly, looking around in confusion.

"Oh, good you're awake. I was worried," Heathcliff remarked with some relief as he stood. Daja stared at him.

"Uh.. who are you?" she asked, with an accent betraying that she wasn't from Japan. She then blushed and looked down. "Sorry that was rude." The man smiled and passed her a sandwich. She took it uncertainly.

"My name is Heathcliff, I saw you when you left to fight those monkey things and hung back to see if you needed help, and if not, to see if I could get some tips." He smiled at her gently. It'd taken about an hour of internal debate before he decided on how he would handle this. "You really shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard. You fainted from exhaustion, and if you haven't been sleeping, you probably haven't been eating, so well eat." He gestured to the sandwich that she was still just holding.

"Oh... okay..." Daja responded awkwardly, not sure how she was supposed to react. Even two years after moving to Japan, she still didn't understand the culture very well. To her relief, it wasn't nearly so formal in SAO, but there were still the odd people who preferred it. And she'd avoided people for the most part so she wasn't forced into the situations. She took a bite of her food and chewed for a moment, surprised at how good it tasted... and how hungry she was. Silence reigned as she ate.

"My name is Daja... thank you for saving me," the girl mumbled shyly, finally remembering her manners, and blushing.

"Oh don't worry about it, it's fine. Besides, I may well have died too if you hadn't thrown that dagger. So let's just call it even." Then he hesitated. "Why are you traveling alone? Everyone I've seen has chosen to at least team up with one other person..."

"Well why are you alone?" she responded defensively, crossing her arms. Heathcliff stared at her for a moment.

"Well... I uh... I didn't join this game with friends like many people, and this isn't exactly an ideal place to make friends... And..." He looked away sheepishly. "Everyone I've approached laughed at me because they don't think I'll be a good fighter... Apparently I'm too old looking." It was his one regret about making his avatar. Daja snorted.

"I spend a lot of time watching people and you're better than half of the ones I've seen right now. If it weren't for your hair being gray, I'd say you're 40 at the oldest. Besides, this is a level based game, isn't it? Doesn't that mean strength doesn't depend on age?" she reasoned.

"You would be correct, but with our true appearances, came judgement, and people are always looking to blame other people for their own misfortune."

"Well, they should blame Kayaba then if they want to blame anyone. It's not fair to the beta testers or anyone working hard to clear the game," Daja grumbled, though she was well acquainted with that way of thinking. Heathcliff was taken aback by the mention of his real name, but hid it well.

"What is your opinion of what's going on?" he inquired, genuinely interested in her opinion. She shrugged.

"I don't think I would mind other than the threat of death... I've been practically living through other worlds for most of my life anyways..." She bit her lip and then decided to share a little more about herself, this stranger had saved her after all, risked his own life for hers. "My father might as well be dead for all he cares, and mom is in the United States Air Force... Two years ago she was stationed in Japan." Daja made a face. "I didn't know any Japanese at that time... I still struggle a little... my 18th birthday was the day of launch... SAO was mom's birthday present for me, and it was everything I dreamed about... until Kayaba made that announcement about death." Heathcliff stared at her for a moment.

"I... see." He wasn't sure how to react. There was silence for a while. "So what are your plans then for surviving this game?" the man queried suddenly. Daja shrugged.

"I haven't really figured it out yet... I've been working on leveling up, but I want to do more than survive, I want to help clear this game, and I want to live. I'm just not sure I'll be ready when the boss is found." Daja sighed. She wanted to be able to help, she didn't want to just level up but do nothing about clearing the floors. Heathcliff regarded her for a moment before sighing himself.

"I'm not sure I'll be ready to help fight the boss when its found either," he admitted reluctantly. "I'm having trouble figuring out how to work with a sword and shield at the same time." A half lie, he knew how but it was a lot more work than many of the other weapons skills, and since he didn't want to use his admin powers early on and therefore have people suspicious of him, he had to figure it out without those powers.

"Well..." Daja sighed. "I better get going, I probably should buy some better supplies and train some more." She stood up and stretched. "Thanks again for saving me."

"Wait!" Heathcliff exclaimed; he wasn't about to let her wander off and exhaust herself again. The next time that happen, she could die. He was growing increasingly affected by deaths, especially when he had met the people who died. And it'd be nice to have some company. "Why don't we team up?" She stopped and stared at him, shock written all over her face.

"Really?" she questioned in disbelief. No one had ever shown the slightest interest in her before. He nodded.

"Going solo is dangerous for people who don't know what they're doing... And while we're doing better than some, it's better to team up," he explained. She nodded slowly.

"Yeah... that makes sense..." She sat down on the bed. He sent her a party request and she accepted. "Uh... now what?" she asked awkwardly after a moment.

"I guess we help each other out with training and supplies." Heathcliff responded, though he himself was unsure. He tended to be a solo player when he played other games and so wasn't used to teaming up with anyone. He really should've done a bit more research into various topics before starting the game it seemed.

"Alright, I can live with that." Daja felt uncertain, like she usually did in social situations. When she knew it was short lived it was easier. Now she would be spending time with a total stranger. Who had to be 20 years older than her. "I guess we should get going and grab breakfast and such..."

"Yes, that probably would be best. But first, here." Heathcliff handed her the sword that was the reward for the quest she'd attempted. She stared at it and examined it eagerly before looking up with a sigh.

"I can't... I can't take it. I didn't complete the quest, you did, so you should have it," she told him regretfully though it was quite a bit better than the sword she had now. Heathcliff shook his head.

"You still killed half the enemies, that means both of us completed it, and so we have an equal claim on the reward. Besides, using a sword and shield combination works best if the two came in a set for anyone but masters of the skill, so I wouldn't be able to really make use of it anyways. Go ahead, you earned it just for being brave enough to try that quest solo," the older man assured her. A slow smile came onto her face as she stood up and tested the sword before sending her old sword to the inventory and keeping the new sword out.

"Thank you, for everything," she said sincerely, still grinning as she sheathed the sword.

Then they headed out for the day, neither sure of how this would work out.

* * *

**A/n Okay so a bit more of a rough start than I'd like for this story, but this idea wouldn't leave me alone. Kayaba/Heathcliff has intrigued me as a character, and up to the point we're at in the anime, he's kind of the least evil villain, he doesn't seem truly malicious about his goals, which makes me think he may be a bit of a sociopath or something, not caring about other people. So on one hand, this is a story about his character and my reasoning for his actions. On the other, it's a total AU where he makes friends with Daja and starts actually... caring for people.**

**It's not my best work, but I'm still going to write it because well it's one of my favorite ideas, and I haven't really seen many people try to humanize Kayaba. I've seen people make him much worse than he actually is, and that's okay, but I wanted to see the other end of the spectrum and it looks like I have no choice but to write it myself. Such a hardship.**

**Anyways, let me know what you think. I accept criticism, and I do honestly think about what people say even if I don't agree or have my own reasons for why I'm doing it that way. One thing I do want people to know is that I'm taking a lot of creative license. I have three other fanfictions I'm focusing on. I also have short stories and novels, my own original fiction, I'm working on. I simply can't take the time and energy to make sure that everything is completely accurate on schools, the way things work, etc. So I take creative license based on what I know. The only thing I fully research beyond studying the source material I have access to (wiki and anime in this case) is things that are important to my novels. My point is that since fanfiction is more for my enjoyment and it's not paid, I'm more lazy.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n sigh seems this fanfiction is insisting on being my worst written one. Now, I don't normally go all depressed or self pitying over a chapter, in fact this is the first time I don't feel like something is good enough to post. This chapter fought me the whole way. I cut it short quite a bit before my goal, well if we can call 10,000 words short. I couldn't just keep forcing the characters to behave and not be OOC anymore, especially since I've put my other fanfictions on hold while I tried to get this chapter out. I seriously need a break, and also need to reconsider if I am going to keep this fanfiction in my main rotation schedule, where I don't work much on other fanfictions until I get the current fanfiction updated. Well... here it is.**

**Also, **_italics_ **is when they speak in English, since the majority of the time they're talking in English.**

* * *

Heathcliff and Daja traveled along the trail to the next town. An awkward silence dominated around the two. They'd agreed to party together but they didn't know much about each other at all. The elder of the two found himself wondering if it was such a good idea to be in the company of another person. He could slip up about himself. He didn't even know how to relate to other people. He was a genius, not a social person. This was a big mistake. He seemed to be making a lot of mistakes lately. He sighed, wondering what to do now, he couldn't just abandon her.

Meanwhile, Daja was trying to figure out how to talk to the older man. She wasn't very social either, though that was more because of her military upbringing coupled with moving often, with the move to Japan being the biggest and hardest. She wanted friends, but just never knew how to relate. Such a big age gap though made it even harder than usual. But she couldn't take the awkward silence anymore.

"You know... being in a party isn't going to work out if we keep up this rather awkward silence..." she spoke up suddenly, glancing at her companion, and wondering if maybe she was too informal. That was a big problem with her Japanese in the end, she was always too informal. Thankfully most of her teachers understood she was from a different culture and only gently reminded her, but well this was a game and things were supposed to be informal... right?

"I am aware. I... do not know what to say... I have never had a friend before," he admitted sheepishly, and a bit embarrassed. At the age he appeared that was highly unusual, even at his actual age that was odd. But Daja didn't seem fazed.

"Well speaking casually rather than formally helps," she suggested. "Though I can see why you do speak formally if you've never actually had any friends to help you lighten up..." She made a face. "I still don't understand why Japan is so formal." Heathcliff surprised himself by chuckling at her antics.

"I suppose I could try, though it is hard to break one's habits," he conceded and did resolve to not be so formal; that could make it difficult later on, even if he was leader of a guild. Formality would help but if he was strict about it...

"Good! I was tired of the silence!" she exclaimed in relief, smiling. He smiled back at her as they continued on their way.

"Well, I suppose the reason Japan is so formal is mostly just tradition," he commented conversationally. "Though after learning about other cultures, specifically the American culture, I did start to wonder why we stayed formal and strict on our values and traditions." Daja shrugged.

"Probably because lots of people don't like change and Americans along with other modern cultures bring lots of it at once. And since old people are respected, and they always like change least, well they made sure change would happen slowly when it came to valuable traditions I suppose," she mused aloud, stumbling on a few words. Heathcliff gave her a surprised look.

"You've given it a lot of thought," he noted. "Why is that?" Daja sighed.

"Didn't have any friends, and with it being difficult to find books written in English, I tended to think about things a lot," she told him casually, though inwardly it hurt to think about. He glanced at her, confused.

"There are a lot of books in English in Japan..." he commented. She smiled wryly.

"Let me rephrase that. Books I want to read are hard to find, even at the military base," she replied dryly before sighing wistfully. Heathcliff chuckled.

"I can see the problem now." He hesitated before asking about something that could be too personal. "No friends?" Daja looked down briefly before refocusing on the path.

"Even before our first move when I was five, I blended into the background easily," she began softly, unconsciously slipping into English. "_Some of it was just I was independent, and others just that at some points I wanted to be alone. But at parties, even my own birthday parties, it'd take people hours to realize I'd disappeared from the main party and sometimes even longer to find that I'd gone to my room or found a place to read or play a video game. At school people forgot about me all the time because I gave up on trying to contribute to conversations only to be ignored. I decided to try to meet people but if they kept forgetting me, then they weren't worth knowing._"She shrugged before continuing, "_when we started moving around due to mom being stationed at different bases, ending up in Japan two years ago, another reason was added. If they remembered me, they'd remember to write. And out of habit, I continued to act that way here. You're actually the first person to notice me,_" she admitted, sighing. She looked up, saw his look of confusion mingled with surprise and thought back. "Oh!" she exclaimed in Japanese, "I'm so sorry for slipping into English on you." Here, he shook his head and smiled.

"_It is fine,_" he informed her. In English. "_I'm fluent in English because my job required some knowledge, and I don't like doing things half way._" Pretty much true, in his research he did have to deal with a lot of Americans, and it was simply easier to learn English than force them to muddle through Japanese since beginner English was a required class in many schools in Japan as a dominating language of trade. Daja sighed in relief.

"That's good... Can you help me improve? There's a lot of words I still don't know... and since this is not a modern day world, I'll probably have issues."

"Of course I can. I would be happy to help." And, he found, that was true. He did enjoy the thought of helping her. She wasn't actually that bad of company. "Now back to what you were saying... I'm not sure keeping to the isolation is a good idea for you, since we don't know how long we will be stuck here, and being lonely isn't fun. However, being unnoticeable can be to your advantage here especially in a group." She looked at him curiously.

"I've been trying to be unnoticed until I attack, but how is it useful in a group?"

Heathcliff did not get the chance to reply as at that moment, a pack of wolves attacked them. Daja yelped in surprise, and was hit once before she regained her bearings. She jumped back and pulled out her sword, but Heathcliff was already in front of her, utilizing his shield.

"I'll keep them occupied, go and attack them from behind," he told her as he kept blocking the five wolves. His shield was an average shield though now he wished it was larger to block more attacks.

Daja nodded, a bit shaken. She crept around him, giving the wolf pack a wide berth. True to his word, they were all focused on him, though his health was starting to go down. She took a deep breath once she was behind all the wolves. She leapt forward and attacked, slashing at the nearest wolf. It shattered, and she injured the next wolf. Then that one and one other turned and leapt at her. This time she was ready. She ducked sideways, activating a sword skill to kill one as it leapt past her. That left one for her to deal with.

She had to play dodge for a bit before she finally got an opening to land a hit. She sighed in relief when it shattered and turned to see Heathcliff kill the final wolf. His shield was nowhere in sight.

"Well, I guess that's what you meant about being unnoticeable... minus getting ambushed," Daja commented wryly.

"Yes, exactly," he responded dryly. "You did well." She shrugged.

"Sometimes I can think on my feet, other times I get too overwhelmed." She hesitated, but couldn't come up with the Japanese word she wanted. "_What happened to your shield?_" Heathcliff sighed.

"_It was a basic shield, and it's durability ran out,_" he responded. She tilted her head in confusion.

"_Durability? What do you mean?_" It was actually nice to hold a small conversation in English with someone other than her mom for once.

"_Well, durability is essentially how many hits your item can take, that's why food will disappear if you drop it. My shield was hit too many times without being repaired,_" he explained and checked his stats. "_Though it looks like I will have enough Col to purchase a better shield._"

"_That's good. So how do you say durability and shield in Japanese?_" she enquired.

As they started walking again, Heathcliff started on a Japanese lesson in response. Well it started with just answering her question and evolved into a lesson as more questions came up. They enjoyed it immensely, often having to stop talking and just laugh at something one or the other said. Even if he was fluent in English, Heathcliff would occasionally make a small mistake that was rather funny, just as Daja more frequently spoke a phrase in Japanese that did not have the meaning she intended. More laughter was generated when one of them pointed out what the mistake was and what they were actually saying.

Of course, they were interrupted a few times by some ambushes, though thankfully none as big as the wolf pack they had encountered.

"Why is that?" Daja asked suddenly. "Why did we have a wolf pack attack us with 5 wolves but now if we're attacked, there's only 2 or 3, no matter what the monster?" Heathcliff was silent for a moment as he tried to figure out how to answer without giving away too much.

"Well, the monsters here are randomly generated. I'm guessing the wolf pack we encountered was just a rare occurrence. The chance of facing a wolf pack of five, especially at their and our levels is much less likely than the packs we've been encountering now."

"That makes sense," Daja remarked after a moment of processing the information. "Least we got a decent amount of exp out of all of the monsters today, I'm nearly at level 7."

"So am I," the other admitted. "But we're nearing town, and I believe it would be best to take some time to rest and gather supplies rather than trying to level up tonight."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

A week later, they were in Tolbana. They'd gotten to know each other better over the last week, and were getting used to working as a team finally. There were a few first close calls, but they made it through them.

"So this is where most of the dungeons for the floor are..." Daja commented, eyeing the pillar just outside the city.

"So it seems. Do you want to take a break and relax for the day, or find some monsters to help you level up to level 10?" he questioned. She shrugged.

"I think relaxing could be good. We have been traveling and training nearly constantly for a week." She stretched, even though she didn't actually need to. There was just something satisfying about the action of stretching.

"I believe you may be right, and I think we walked by a park earlier. Since it's a safe zone, that'd be the perfect place to relax," he suggested. Daja grinned.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

They headed that way, taking in the sights, and quietly discussing the merits of various weapons and shields, along with other equipment. Mainly it was Daja being stubborn about learning to handle a shield.

"I told you, I don't like shields, and I feel off balance with it, and like I no longer know what I'm doing," she commented in exasperation finally, a bit fed up. She had tried with his when he first suggested it. Heathcliff sighed and decided to give it up.

"That is a fair point. I suppose your habit of blending in does not extend to shields."

"Are you kidding? A shield is obvious, for blending in, I can just hide behind a tree or a bush... or you," she joked. "Seriously, I much prefer attacking than shielding."

"Ah, a good offense is the best defense?"

"Eh, close enough. I've always been a bit reckless. When I took martial arts before we moved to Japan, I tended not to block but rather strike, because I was good at ignoring the hits and any pain. Of course now that habit sucks," she added with a groan.

"As long as you pay attention to when your health is in the yellow and when it is in the red, you should be fine, but being more aware in general would likely be a good idea," he told her. She groaned again.

"I know... why don't I just level up super high so it's less likely to be a problem? And get better at fighting."

"That would probably be good, though you'd have to build up your defense stat a bit."

"Of course," she grumbled.

They fell into a comfortable silence after that. The park was a nice one, almost like a park from real life. Daja sprawled on the grass, sighing happily. It was nice to be able to enjoy the weather and the outdoors without worrying about being killed. Heathcliff was more reserved and chose to sit at a bench, though he was also enjoying himself. They both closed their eyes and enjoyed the silence and time to think, without actually being lonely.

Heathcliff held in a sigh as he considered the last month. 2,000 people dead. He caused that. He caused all the grief, and anger, and all those deaths... the suicides being the worst. It was a terrible mistake of his. He still wanted to play this game with people but... he no longer liked the cost. Especially with how people were reacting. He was especially glad that he chose to be a normal player for now, not relying on any system assists. They'd heard whispers of how selfish the beta testers were for not helping beginners, and if he showed any sign of being stronger than he should be, have any skills he shouldn't... he'd be lumped in with them. So he'd just have to wait for a few more months at the earliest. No problem, he could handle that. Just wait until he and other players were at decent levels for him to never go into the yellow... and he could pull off being an immortal object without notice then. Hopefully he could keep his friend alive until then, when it'd be much easier.

Daja stared up at the sky, lost in thought. A month ago, she wouldn't have seen herself where she was now. A month ago, she had never touched an MMO game, she'd played tons of other games sure, mostly Pokemon and Legend of Zelda, but never an MMO. It'd seemed like too much effort, and like it cost a lot of money to really devote one's time to it. So she'd been surprised when her mom had bought SAO for her, complete with NerveGear. Granted, it had been her only birthday gift, but it still was a big shock. But she was rather happy because SAO did have the option to be solo and all that so it wouldn't be too big a deal that it was an MMO, but then... the death game started. She was still herself, but different. More confident, for one. She found it easier to talk to other players now, but that wasn't saying much since she still worried about what she'd say to them. And she actually had a friend. Life wasn't that bad after all despite the threat of death. It was no different than real life really, well okay death was more likely but it was still similar to real life... like this was actually reality. And in a way, it was. She already hoped to be able to keep in contact with Heathcliff once the game was over. Sure he was much older, but he was also her friend. And that was good enough for her.

"Huh... neither of you are training or breaking down..." a boy's voice interrupted their introspections. Daja looked up.

"Yeah, there a problem with that?" she asked, a bit defensively. It wouldn't be the first time someone took offense that they weren't training when they were clearly okay with being in the game.

"No... not at all, it's just not a common sight," he responded, holding up his hands. Daja propped herself up on her elbow and regarded him for a moment before saying something she'd never have dared to say at all in the real world.

"You really like the color black," she observed, before blinking in surprise that she had actually said it. She'd never felt comfortable enough before. Maybe she felt more secure about herself? Funny that a game she was trapped in was the one to do that. The boy shrugged.

"Yeah, I do. My name is Kirito."

"I'm Daja. Nice to meet you." She waved, too content to even fully sit up let alone stand.

"I'm Heathcliff," the older man introduced himself, opening his eyes. Kirito glanced between the two and then checked the time. Deciding he had enough time for this, he sat down on the grass.

"So... why are you relaxing?" he questioned, curious to see if their reasoning was similar to his or if there was something else to it. Daja shrugged.

"Because we've been traveling and training nearly constantly for two weeks. It's nice to take a break and relax in the sun instead of at night for once. And you know, it's kind of detrimental to always work and all that. And it's a nice day, so best enjoy it," she finished her list as she sat up to better talk to him. Heathcliff nodded his agreement, having nothing to add. Kirito smiled slightly.

"Good to see that I'm not the only one who realizes that we can still live our lives here... Most just don't see it that way."

"It's understandable that they don't. They just want to get home," Heathcliff pointed out.

"Yeah... But they'll burn out or do something stupid if they're going to be helping clear the game," Daja responded.

"Which is what we really need to be concerned about," Kirito added. "The betas only made it to floor 10 in one month, so even if we were at that rate, we'll be here for 10 months... then there's the fact it's been nearly a month and the first floor hasn't even been beaten yet." Daja sighed.

"Which means we should all resign ourselves to that amount of time stuck in the game. Which means there's probably plenty of time for relaxing too. Carefully timed of course, and it's necessary or everyone will be burned out and no one will clear the game," she stated. "Of course, once people get used to this and we gain momentum, it's not likely that anyone will approve of relaxing during daylight hours." Kirito rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. By the way, there's going to be a meeting about the first floor boss later. You should come," he added. Heathcliff seemed intrigued, but Daja felt uneasy.

"I'm not sure... This is my first MMO... and I'm not sure I'm ready. My level may be close to high enough... but otherwise..." She shook her head. "I don't know if I could do it, especially working in a group. And even if I could do it, with this attitude, that's probably recipe for disaster, so it's better that I work on getting better at fighting and working in a group in general." Heathcliff sighed.

"That is true," he agreed. "And I'll help you. So I suppose we have to turn down the offer, Kirito. But thank you for asking. It's good to know someone has stepped up." And, it meant that people would be less likely to suspect him to be who he was since if he was to be involved in the game, they'd all expect him to be at the front lines leading from the get go, or working on sabotaging them like an orange or red player, though few had appeared so far. Heathcliff suspected many would appear before the end. Also, in an intense fight like one against a boss, he was more likely to slip up and do something a player of his level wasn't supposed to be able to do. So sitting this one out was looking better and better.

"Alright, I'll see you around. I don't know what to expect of the meeting so I think I should go make some repairs to be sure everything is in good condition. I'll see you around." He stood up to leave.

"Wait," Daja blurted before she could think better of it. "Could... we add you to our friends list?" she asked uncertainly. Kirito stared at her. She blushed and looked down, kicking herself mentally for her impulsiveness.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea. We could always use new friends in this world." He activated his menu and sent them both requests. Heathcliff carefully hid his surprise as he hit accept.

"We'll keep in touch," he promised Kirito. The boy nodded and left. That one, he would have to keep an eye on. He already seemed like he could be a good candidate for one of the 'heroes' of this story.

* * *

A few days later, the first floor was finally cleared. After hearing rumors about the battle, Daja messaged Kirito and asked for his side of the story. She read his response aloud to Heathcliff and they both agreed that they would keep in contact with Kirito despite his status as a 'beater'. She was rather pleased he chose to tell her the truth, maybe there was another potential friend there. For now, they were content to explore the second floor and keep an ear out for quests that could be beneficial.

Daja couldn't help but feel Heathcliff was keeping something from her, but well this wasn't exactly real life so it was expected that he didn't share much about his life. And despite the nagging feeling that it could be important, she dismissed it since she had kept some secrets from him too. Namely her exact state of mind and why her mom was so encouraging of getting things that made her happy no matter the cost. That, she would keep to herself as long as she could. So she figured he was allowed to have his secrets. Later, she would sorely regret this decision, but that wouldn't happen for a long time.

Currently, they were exploring the second floor for the first time since they hadn't ventured out of the first city of floor two before. They had been making sure they were adequately prepared to fight higher level monsters they would encounter. So far, it seemed they didn't need to worry as they handled them just fine with their newer weapons. Well, getting the weapons upgraded and finding new equipment had been a good idea, particularly when Daja decided she wanted to learn the one handed dagger skill, and so the search had begun to find her a good starting one. What they hadn't needed to worry so much about it seemed were the other items such as potions, particularly since they had both picked up the battle healing skill.

Then... They ran into a larger pack of monsters than usual. And it quickly became apparent that this time they did need potions. This pack consisted of six feral oxen, so it couldn't really be considered a pack. Six monsters, three for her, three for Heathcliff. And that was without factoring in the levels.

Daja tried to be unnoticeable but for some reason the oxen were drawn to her more than Heathcliff. He was battling two at a time and was having enough trouble, so he was unable to help her as she faced four of them at once, becoming increasingly overwhelmed. He at least was able to stop and take a potion, but she had no chance and her health was dwindling down to the red already. He blocked the oxen with his shield but was nearly knocked over from the force the monster put into it.

Heathcliff stabbed and dealt damage, one of the oxen was nearly done for and the other was at half health. He tried not to panic as Daja's health bar went further into the red. A few more hits and she would... die. He actually felt a pang in his heart at the thought and nearly panicked. Should he use his admin privileges?

Daja meanwhile was doing her best with what she had, alternating her dagger with her sword. She had one in either hand, and she was desperate. A skill with one weapon, a skill with the other, but never at the same time. She was dealing a decent amount of damage but she was close to panicking as her health dropped lower and lower despite her best efforts. But the stupid feral oxen kept charging so it took everything to block, let alone attack and there was no way she'd be able to drink a potion to get her health up.

She stabbed an ox, and went to kill another, but was distracted by the shattering of the first ox. She hadn't realized it was that close to being defeated. Then an ox charged her and she fell to one knee. She breathed heavily and shakily tried to open her menu to get a potion before she was attacked, but she knew it was futile. She kept trying to open the menu; she wasn't going down without a fight even if she was incapable of fighting at the moment. She opened the menu finally, but it was too late. She braced herself for impact, eyes closed, but none came.

"You have a potion, right?" The unfamiliar voice made her look up in surprise. She blinked a few times at him and his headband.

"Uh... yeah." She went to her inventory quickly, a bit in shock.

"Good, I can hold them off for a few moments while you get that." He was already drawing their attention and holding them off fairly decently.

"Right." She quickly removed the potion and drank it. She waited briefly before joining back in the fight. With a third person helping them, and only four oxen left, the fighting was much less intense.

Heathcliff had glanced over while he was still debating and was relieved to see someone step in to help them. He returned his focus to the remaining ox fighting him while the other three were by the other two. He felt relief when Daja's health bar started regenerating; meaning she'd finally been able to take a potion. After his ox shattered, he dashed over to help Daja and the person who had joined them.

Three oxen left, three people, and the monsters having sustained damaged meant that they were able to dispatch the monsters fairly easily. Daja sat down to catch her breath. Heathcliff sat down after a bit as well, feeling a bit shaky. They'd survived it, and he didn't have to use his admin privileges. His secrets were safe for now. After a moment, the young man shrugged and sat down as well. Suddenly Daja blushed as she remembered her manners.

"Thanks for saving me... I'm Daja." She offered her hand to him, since in game, it'd become the norm to shake hands over any form of greeting if they were not familiar with each other. He took it, blushing a little himself and seeming a little sheepish.

"Uh... Klein," the young man returned, flustered. "Think nothing of it, saving cute girls is part of a samurai's job... Uh..." Daja caught the unintentional complement and blushed. Heathcliff rolled his eyes, amused at their antics.

"I'm Heathcliff," he introduced himself calmly. Klein sat up straight suddenly, looking a little horrified.

"You're her father aren't you?" he asked, panicking. The two exchanged surprised and confused looks, but the poor guy didn't notice and bowed. "I-I didn't mean any disrespect sir, I uh didn't realize what I was saying, I don't have a filter sometimes and uh please don't hurt me," he begged.

Daja couldn't help but grin, trying not to giggle at his antics. Heathcliff was almost gaping, barely keeping his face in a mostly neutral expression. Then what he said dawned on her, and she looked at her friend. He stared back. He certainly did look old enough to be her father, barely. She grinned suddenly at a thought then felt a bit insecure at the idea before throwing caution into the wind.

"Yeah dad don't hurt him. He helped after all," she commented teasingly. Heathcliff sighed, though he was surprised to find that he felt pleased that she chose to call him that, even in jest. He smiled slightly at the young man in front of them.

"Do not worry Klein. You did save us, and thank you for that... as for no filter... you're not the only one." He stared pointedly at Daja who gasped in mock-offense. Sometimes when she got going, she'd ramble and it was a good thing no one else was around. Heathcliff sometimes wasn't even sure what he'd heard or that he wanted to know in the first place. Klein brightened.

"Really? So what are you two doing out here anyways?" he asked in one breath.

"Trying to survive," Daja responded dryly. "Any ideas why the oxen focused on me?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Heathcliff admitted, frowning. He must have done something in their programming but he'd programmed so much and some he didn't even program at all come to think of it, that he couldn't remember what it was. He was sure he had a hand in the design of the oxen though. Klein grimaced.

"I was traveling with my friends when we first encountered them. Good thing too, we also got a horde of the monsters, and they all focused on me." Klein shrugged. "We didn't have such a bad ratio though and they were defeated... And I think I have a theory... I'm wearing red, you're wearing red," he pointed to Daja, "and my friends and your dad are not."

"...But isn't that supposed to be with bulls?" Daja questioned incredulously. The young man shrugged again.

"Yeah, makes you wonder what the game designers were thinking." The two continued an amicable conversation about their time so far in the game, Daja continuing the charade that Heathcliff was her father.

Meanwhile, unnoticed, Heathcliff was beating himself up mentally. _What was I thinking? Even if I had put it with bulls instead of oxen, why did I think it was a good idea to have them mostly target those wearing red as well as giving them a higher group spawn rate? We were lucky Klein came along. _He sighed and looked down at his clothes. For now, he had opted for more earthy colors, greens and browns, to blend in easier, despite his favorite color being red. _Oh right. I was going for entertaining without thinking too much about the players who'd encounter them._

He'd have to be more aware and careful, especially if he wanted to protect Daja. She... was his first friend. Sure he had friendly acquaintances but most of the time he hesitated to call them friends, especially since he worked with most of them. And he had come to care for her more than he'd realized, though it took nearly losing her to the game he'd designed to acknowledge that. In that moment, he vowed to make sure she made it through the game. His own view of the game had changed. It was no longer just about having fun but making sure she made it through the game. He tuned back into the conversation.

"You seriously waited that long just to buy the game?" Daja inquired in astonishment.

"Yeah, didn't you?" Klein asked with a shrug.

"It was a birthday gift," she admitted sheepishly. "Came as a surprise really to get it... I think it might have been preordered," she added thoughtfully. Heathcliff nodded in agreement, that was his story on how he got his. Both failed to realize that it reinforced the appearance of them being father/daughter.

"Lucky you then," Klein grinned at her, "though I wouldn't give up the experience I had with my friends for anything."

"Speaking of them, you mention them a lot but you're out here alone, where are they?" the older man queried curiously. Klein blinked then rubbed the back of his neck.

"We were taking a break, and I heard the fighting so I decided to check it out, they're probably wondering where I am actually." He stretched. "I should probably get back to them. Want to come along?" he asked hopefully, looking at Daja. She blushed lightly.

"Um... I suppose we can..." She glanced at Heathcliff. He nodded, amused. Daja bounced up.

"Lead the way, Klein," the gray haired man told him calmly with a small smile as he stood up. Klein grinned and did so.

Daja couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Other than Heathcliff, she tended to avoid people. Sure she had an easier time talking to them but that didn't mean she was comfortable with it. Unless she had no choice but to talk to them, like when Kirito joined them that day. Though Klein was cute, and he did save her... The thought had her blush and did nothing for her nerves. She glanced up at Heathcliff. He gave her a reassuring smile, though he himself was a bit nervous.

Of course, Heathcliff felt nervous for a few reasons, that were far different than hers. This would be a real test. It was easy enough to fool Daja into thinking he was a normal middle aged man. The real test would be other people, for longer than any interactions so far.. Heathcliff felt guilty immediately. It was a poor way to think of her. She after all was rather smart. He just must've gotten his story and masks down perfectly, that's all. He tried not to think of the guilt since that would just make things harder on him. He focused on what he'd hoped to appear as. A nice middle aged man, eager to help clear the game, learning all that he can to improve to be the best (easy enough with Daja to study), quiet yet with leadership qualities, and someone that no one would connect with the reclusive, intelligent, and ruthless scientist that created the game. The idea that Daja was his daughter was hilarious as a joke, and if she wanted to continue it, keeping the fact that they weren't related secret, it'd only work in his favor. After all, Akihito Kayaba didn't have any children and why would have one so old if he was only 28? Yes, this could work out well.

_She'll find out the truth someday. What then?_ A traitorous part of his mind whispered. He pushed it aside to worry about another day. His main concern was making sure she survived after all. The first floor had only just been cleared. He had plenty of time to figure out a plan and how to tell her.

"Alright this is where I left them... they should be here somewhere..." Klein trailed off, looking worried as he looked around.

Daja glanced around in nervous anticipation. She didn't know what to expect of his friends. Klein seemed nice enough but what if his friends weren't? She didn't realize she was shaking as she focused on calming thoughts, reassuring herself that it wasn't that bad and that she always blew it out of proportion. But it wasn't working and her mind was conjuring all the situations where she'd been rejected (even if it was passively with ignoring her), and replacing those who did so with faceless people who looked oddly like Klein. She jumped when she felt a hand on her arm.

"Are you alright?" Klein asked her gently and worriedly. She looked up and met his concerned eyes. She ducked her head and stared at her feet in shame, feeling heat in her cheeks as she took deep breaths and forced herself to calm down.

"Yeah... I'm fine," she responded after a moment. Heathcliff put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

"There you are Klein!" someone yelled. Daja jumped and looked around. Five guys were approaching. She unconsciously moved closer to Heathcliff.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where'd you guys go?"

"Looking for you of course... Is that a girl?" One of them exclaimed. Daja stared at them wide-eyed.

"Where'd you find her?" They started crowding around. Of all the reactions she expected, men crowding her like they were desperate to get a date was not one of them.

"This is Daja... and her dad, Heathcliff," Klein announced before naming off each of the five guys, drawing their attention away from Daja. It was obvious she was uncomfortable with it. All of the guys froze and looked at the man who was coolly regarding them with a raised eyebrow.

"Isn't that sort of behavior considered rude?" he asked them. They all backed away slowly. Daja tried not to grin at their reaction. Silence reigned for a bit until Klein had enough.

"Remember, I went to check out the fight we heard..."

"But you took forever getting back so we searched for you."

"Way too dependent I swear," Klein muttered under his breath, Heathcliff and Daja barely heard him and they were the closest. "You could've sent a message or just headed back to the town." They all blinked.

"Uh... didn't think of that..."

"As for what happened..." Klein proceeded to explain exactly what had happened.

In the end, neither Heathcliff or Daja knew what to think of Issin, Harry One, Kunimittz, Dale, and Dynamm. Klein was a great guy, but those five seemed different, and if Daja hadn't known that Klein had met them in online gaming, she would've really wondered how they became friends. But they all seemed happy and like it didn't matter too much how different they were though it was clear that those five weren't as well versed in the game despite having about the same amount of experience. Also, Klein was clearly leadership material. They all listened to him even if he didn't seem to be the type to be a leader. Daja found herself admiring him for it. At least the other five guys seemed to like their company, even attempting to give advice. Klein seemed to be the only one with decent advice, however. The others had more frivolous advice, mostly things that were easy to pick up or weren't really that important. But at least it was a fun conversation.

Night began to fall, the sun was setting. Daja nearly panicked, remembering that monsters tended to be stronger at night, and after the fight with the oxen during the day, she did not want to face that only stronger that night. Heathcliff noticed and calmly suggested that they head back to the city for some rest without drawing attention. Klein seemed to have noticed if the glance he gave them was any indication. After accepting friend requests, they headed on their way back.

"One moment," Klein called after them suddenly. "Kirito mentioned that there's a quest for an extra skill on this floor, none of us are interested right now, but just so you know." At some point in the discussion he'd told them about meeting Kirito before the announcement, and so they'd told him that they'd also met Kirito.

"Thank you!" Daja returned loudly as they kept walking. "Guess I'll have to message Kirito in the morning for more details. Wonder what skill it is..." she mused.

"Probably one that can only be acquired through the quest," Heathcliff responded, thinking about which quest it had to be. It took a moment but then he remembered that it was the martial arts quest.

"Alright." Daja stretched and looked around, relaxing a bit when she realized there were no monsters around at the moment. "Well Klein was nice..."

"Yes, he was," her companion agreed. He hesitated. "So... he thought you are my daughter... Um... do... uh... what do you think of that?" he settled on, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Daja looked down, thinking that he might not like the idea.

"I don't mind..." she answered quietly. "Kind of amusing really, and it could be a good thing to be thought of as that instead of two random strangers with decades between them..."

"I don't mind either." Heathcliff sighed in relief. She jerked her head up in surprise and stared at him. "You're right it can be a good thing, plus it can help keep the crowds off of you... My only concern is..." he took a deep breath, "what about your father?" Daja winced and looked away.

"What about him?" she questioned flatly, no emotion to her voice. Heathcliff stopped and stared at her. He'd never heard that tone of voice from her before.

"It... wouldn't be weird to call me dad, I uh... wouldn't be..."

"Oh... no. Not at all." There was a little more emotion this time.

"Um... are you alright?" he queried hesitantly. Even with his lack of experience in social situations, he could tell something was definitely wrong. Maybe he was just getting used to how she was or something.

"My _dad_," she used the English word, "is dead." The deadpan voice was back. "He died years ago. I think I was 12." She wasn't sure because she had mostly blocked those memories out as some of the worst parts of her life.

"Oh... I'm sorry. You don't need to..." Heathcliff wasn't sure how to phrase what the situation was, but he didn't want to have to put her through pain. It scared him to see her so deadpan, she was always so lively, unlike himself. She shook herself.

"No, I want to," she responded earnestly. He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't think you'd be replacing him... but... no, never mind." She shook her head, a bit red.

"You know I won't judge you," Heathcliff assured her, trying to reign in his curiosity.

"But that doesn't stop me from judging myself. I... I think its too soon. Ask me again in a few months." She started walking quickly.

The man watched her for a moment, wondering exactly what it was that she had thought. And how it related to her father. He sighed. It had to have been hard on her to lose her father so young. It was clear in the voice she used. So deadpan and devoid of emotion, she had to have been trying to hide from the emotions. Personally, he had never known his parents. He was raised by relatives who were distant from him, even as his genius started emerging. They only became more distant as they could not keep up with him. He'd isolated himself with books and other things that made him rather anti-social. That probably was why he was so distant from most people. And why he'd made the mistakes he did. Overall, he didn't really care what happened to people, but so many dead just from the first month was far beyond his calculations. And then there was Daja to consider, who truly cared that so many were dead. He realized with a jolt that she was leaving him behind and so ran after her.

That night, she wrote a message to Kirito asking about the quest Klein had mentioned. Then the two decided it was off to bed for a decent nights rest before they took on the quest or did more exploring. Whichever they chose to do based on what Kirito told them.

* * *

"So it took him three days to complete it..." Heathcliff mused after Daja finished reading Kirito's response aloud. That would be important to keep in mind, he knew the trick but he had to keep up appearances.

"And because of when a player is supposed to find out about it from an NPC, it'd be easier if we were at a higher level... But the martial arts skill would be handy..." Daja spoke her thoughts aloud. "Maybe we should spend a day gaining exp before trying for it..."

"I think you're right. Let's make sure we have enough supplies first."

"Right." Daja nodded as she used her menu to check but something caught her eye first. "Huh... I'm at level 11 now. Seems the oxen yesterday were good for something after all, didn't expect a level up yesterday at all."

Heathcliff winced at the thought of what had nearly happened. He had been struck with an idea in the middle of the night after a nightmare he'd never admit he had. He had already started but it was a project to be kept secret. A way to keep Daja alive. His first step was to change the settings so that if she did die in the game her nervegear wouldn't destroy her brain. He was working on other solutions including preventing her from dying in game. He shook his head of such thoughts.

"I suppose you could look at it that way... I also leveled up during the fight," he admitted. "I just wish you didn't have to nearly die for our large exp gain to occur." Daja gave him a bright smile.

"It's okay. We survived and made a new friend in the process. And we did our best. We just have to be more careful now, yes?"

"Yeah, that's true. We'll be more careful. Which means we should both avoid wearing a lot of red," he added sternly since she was wearing red like the day before. She sighed and pouted a little.

"Do you have to sound so much like a father?" she complained as she went to her menu and quickly changed her tunic to a dark blue and green color.

Heathcliff stared at her speechlessly, not sure how to respond. How had he managed to sound so fatherly? How could a few weeks with this girl change him so much? How did he get so protective? The only person he'd ever been somewhat protective of was his partner in creating the game. But no... now wasn't the time to think about her.

"I'm ready," Daja announced, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Alright, let's go," her friend responded, standing.

* * *

Three days later, Heathcliff glared at the rock in front of him. He knew the trick to breaking it, and levels didn't play as much of a part in it as people thought, but that didn't make it any easier. Daja and he had taken the quest two days before, and he was getting rather impatient and tired of hitting the rock over and over again. In order to gain the extra skill, one had to break an unbreakable rock, and he'd programmed it so that if there were a bunch of people, they had their own unbreakable rocks, so that they wouldn't take turns on one. There was just one thing he was regretting about the quest design... Daja giggled.

"You look silly glaring like that with the cat whiskers," she told him between giggles. He sighed.

"Remind me why I agreed to have my face painted with them?"

"Because it was the only way to take the quest! Don't worry they'll be removed when you beat it," she added, grinning. He sighed and nodded in defeat before deciding to change the subject a little.

"What about you?" he inquired.

"Eh, I'll probably have to live with it. I've made even less progress than you... and I even was in martial arts, it shouldn't be this hard... Besides... I can use martial arts I just can't use the skill, and it's not a big deal. Even if I have to have cat whiskers the rest of the time here."

"You sure?" he asked before making another attempt. It failed. Again. She shrugged and made an attempt on her own rock. She winced at the impact.

"Yeah, I am. And that attempt didn't work." She sighed, shaking her hands out. There wasn't really any pain, but it certainly felt odd.

"No it did not," he chuckled at her disgruntled expression. "I thought you didn't care if you succeeded or not?" She shrugged.

"Just because I'm willing to accept defeat doesn't mean I won't be any less upset if I can't succeed," she explained. Heathcliff smiled.

"I suppose that make sense to be disappointed even if you do make that choice to give up," he responded. Then he thought for a moment, staring at his rock. "I think we should call it a day soon." Daja sighed and nodded before stretching.

"I think you're right. We've been at it all day and I'm hungry. And tired. And cranky," she added thoughtfully before kicking at her rock. Then she hopped around for a moment as slight pain coursed through her foot.

Heathcliff watched in amusement. It wasn't the full pain because of his pain absorber, but he'd left it so people would experience a slight pain if it would be a severe pain in real life to make it realistic. And because he knew it would help himself when he played. The pain told him when he was losing health and helped him pay attention to that. Of course when he finally activated immortal object, he wouldn't experience any pain at all, but he still planned on being cautious so as not to reveal his status.

Once she recovered, they resumed their attempts, mostly to get them over with in order to call it a night. They concentrated hard for another thirty minutes, before Daja had enough.

"Oh, I can't do this anymore today," she groaned loudly as she fell back on purpose and laid down. Heathcliff chuckled.

"Alright, alright. One moment." He'd been winding up for another attempt. He readjusted himself as her antics had thrown off his rhythm and it was still off. By the time he realized it, he was already moving at the rock. To his astonishment, there was a loud noise and a crack appeared on the rock. He watched it spread before the rock broke into shards and then dissolved away.

"Congratulations on succeeding. Would you like martial art skill now? It will take the place of your next skill slot. If none are currently open, the next level that would unlock one will not unlock an additional," the NPC rattled off. Daja sat up, surprised.

"I'd like the skill, yes. I'd like it even more if you could remove the paint from my face," he added lightly. The NPC did so.

"What about me?" Daja interrupted impulsively. The NPC turned to her.

"I cannot remove the whiskers until you have accomplished your task."

"Then can you change the color? Black is boring. How about... Green or blue or purple instead? Oooh... or red?" she rambled thoughtfully, but not expecting much. Too bad she couldn't really get any satisfaction out of annoying the NPC. But, to her surprise...

"I can change the color, but only if you plan on moving on without completing the test."

"I don't."

"Then you can have it done in a different color. What color would you prefer?"

"Hmm... I think..." She nearly said red but then remembered the oxen. "I think... green would be good."

A few motions from the NPC and they were done. They headed back towards civilization.

* * *

The next day, they went out and found some monsters to slay, partially to work on leveling up, but also to help Heathcliff get used to the martial arts skill. Daja had suggested it, and Heathcliff knew the real reason was she was tired of the stares. She might not have minded the whiskers themselves, but the reactions made her withdraw. She became self-conscious and just wanted to be away from the stares and whispers; why couldn't people mind their own business? It wasn't as bad as her mind made it out to be, but it was still bad enough that Heathcliff picked up on why she wanted to go fight monsters. So that she was away from it all.

Because they hadn't been able to level up before the quest and then didn't gain any exp during the quest (well, Heathcliff had gotten some for completing it, but not quite enough to level up), this actually was a kind of needed excursion. Heathcliff leveled up early on in the trip, but didn't say anything. Finally, a triumphant cheer rose from Daja.

"Level 12! Finally!" She finished off the last few in the field and walked over to Heathcliff. "So... take a break?"

"Or we could head back," he suggested.

"Nah... not yet. Break first." She lead the way over to the safe area. Then she flopped on the ground. Heathcliff chuckled and sat down near her.

"Hard to believe it's already been a month since we got stuck here," he commented.

"And it's been nearly 3 weeks since you saved me." Daja gave him a wide grin. "Feels like it's been much longer, doesn't it?" She sighed, going serious. "Makes me wonder how it feels to those still in the real world... How my mom feels..." Heathcliff looked at her with alarm. She hadn't really seemed down about being stuck here yet.

"Why are you thinking about this suddenly?" he enquired. She sat up and shrugged, messing with the digital grass.

"I guess it's always been at the back of my mind. I was thinking about how I've been having fun, and how mom would be glad, but then I realized... she's probably crying her eyes out or trying not to cry... and spending as much time as she can near me..." Daja sighed. "She... she always did everything she could to make me happy... And now I'm here... and she still has her military duties..."

"Ah... And you worry for her?" Heathcliff questioned, a bit uneasy. He wasn't sure what to do if she broke down or what to say or anything. Daja nodded.

"Yeah... She overworks herself too much between her job and me. I don't think I've ever seen her do anything for fun... She even told me that I was her reason for living once..." Here tears did start forming. "And now... I'm in danger of dying but there's no way for her to know what's going on at all..." She started crying. Heathcliff hesitantly moved closer.

"But she knows you're alive. You're a fighter," he told her firmly. She looked up, shaking her head, tears still falling.

"Not usually... I'm not usually a fighter..." Daja sighed. "So she might think there's no hope... Especially with how many have already died... what are we at?" She paused, then shook her head. "Doesn't matter. But so many people have died... how can she not be expecting me to die too?"

"There is always hope," Heathcliff said softly, putting an arm around her hesitantly. She leaned into him automatically, not even noticing how safe she felt.

"Doesn't often feel like it. Especially right now... I mean they're already close to clearing the 2nd floor, but there's 100 floors for us to clear... how will anyone survive that long?" she questioned tearfully. "Will even half survive?" She didn't really mention whether or not she thought she would survive, which her friend found odd considering she had been worried about it where her mom was concerned.

"I don't know in truth... I'd like to think the worst is behind us now. People know their limits better, and are getting stronger everyday. Those that aren't rarely venture out of the towns. Already, the death rate is lower," he answered as truthfully as he could. He really did hope that he was correct. The more people survived, the more likely they'd make it to the surprise on the 100th floor. She considered that for a moment.

"Yeah, that's true. I just worry a lot sometimes."

"A little worry is good, as is fear, it helps you be cautious instead of reckless. However, too much just stresses you out, which makes you more vulnerable, so please try not to worry," he told her softly. She nodded, and relaxed against him.

Silence followed. Daja was trying to figure out how to calm her worries about the people not surviving. They were pretty intense though, so it was taking a lot of logic. She made some improvement and then decided to think about other things. Like when they might see Klein next. Or Kirito. But mostly Klein. He was rather intriguing and not nearly as anti-social as Kirito could be. Then the 18 year old started debating the merits of various skills that she wanted to learn.

Heathcliff, on the other hand, was thinking more seriously. About his role in causing this. It wasn't even much of a role, but the main cause. He did this. He still didn't really care so much about the lives, but Daja had a mother waiting for her. How many others were facing grief? How many people had already lost someone to the game? Why hadn't he considered the effect it'd have on the real world?

He didn't notice his friend lay down next to him, humming to herself. He was too lost in thought. He knew the pain of losing someone. His mother had died when he was only 5 after all. He frowned. Was that when he stopped caring about people? He remembered the pain of losing her clearly, but he didn't really remember having much emotion afterwards. Even more so after his father told him to stop crying and being a baby... That can't have been a good thing... And then his dad died a year later so he reminded himself constantly what his father wanted...

But now he was used to having little to no emotion... The emotions and protectiveness Daja could bring out in him terrified him. Did he really want to be another emotional being? It'd interrupt his life's work... But... There was Daja. Something seemed off about her. She really did seem rather more eager than she probably should be to make friends and she latched onto him rather quickly, even fully okay with calling him dad... He'd just have to wait and see how this turned out. Making sure she could return to her mother was his top priority. As well as making sure the game went smoothly. He'd worry about his other plans at a later date. It wasn't important yet. He needed to learn some things before one of his plans, and the biggest plan was many many floors away. He had time.

"Are you done?" Daja inquired impatiently. "You've been entirely too serious." He stared at her.

"This game is a rather serious matter..." he responded slowly. She scowled.

"That's no reason to be thinking so hard about it for so long. Come on!" she exclaimed as she jumped up. "Let's have a race. We start here, run around those trees there, race to the fence, touch the fence at the nearest point to here, run to the gate and jump over it, up the stairs, in and out of a store, buying one item, and then meet in the square." She grinned, proud of herself.

"That's a ridiculous route..." the gray haired man remarked lamely, unable to think of any other response. Daja bounced on her toes.

"That's the fun of it. You need to relax more often," she declared. He sighed.

"How can you go from crying to this so fast?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Calmed myself down, you did help a lot actually, and then I decided we both needed a distraction. This is a distraction. You ready?"

"I suppose." He took up a ready position.

"Alright, go!" She took off.

"Hey!" he protested as he chased her.

She just laughed as she started running around the trees. As she completed the circuit, a single boar appeared. She slashed her sword as it left at her and barely slowed down for it. But it was enough for her competitor to catch up. He started grinning, enjoying himself. They ran the few miles to the fence, keeping in step with each other. Neither had sprint yet so they were stuck with normal speed, but it was fun enough. Sprint would've made things uneven.

By the time they reached the fence, Heathcliff was laughing as well, even though they'd both had to dispatch a few monsters. They touched the fence at the same time before darting over to the gate and jumping over it. Heathcliff had more success, being a bit taller than Daja, and so gained the lead.

She sped up, determined to put up a good fight. She could be competitive if she wanted to be. Her goal was accomplished either way. And there was no fun in not trying. They went into a store. She grabbed some food, he grabbed a new shield. Neither noticed the odd looks they gained. He paid first and was out of there. She was just after, chasing him until they decided on different routes through the city. Many people jumped out of their way. Heathcliff had chosen the shorter route with more people to dodge while Daja chose the longer, less used route. She sped up when she saw the park, and Heathcliff the same distance from it as she was.

Daja had stopped paying attention to other people however and suddenly collided with something in her way. She heard a gasp of surprise before both fell to the ground. She groaned when she heard laughter, but didn't look up because she was blushing and trying to untangle herself from the other person.

"I believe I win this race," Heathcliff announced. "Though it was close." Daja finally lifted her head. And groaned again.

"Seriously?" They were just outside the park. Then she remembered the other player. "Oh erm sorry," she apologized, going redder as she moved away from them, finally freeing her arms.

"No, it's fine," he replied in a daze. "You can knock me over any time." Daja couldn't help but giggle at that though she blushed lightly as she tried to figure out how to respond.

"Oh, funny running into you Klein," Heathcliff commented, lips twitching.

"Oh uh, um, hi," the other man responded sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't mind me, I just said something I didn't mean to say again." His cheeks were tinted pink.

"It's okay..." Daja responded, still blushing. "I didn't mind it." They both stood up.

"Alright... um..." Klein tried to think of something else to say. He glanced at her. "Why do you have whiskers?" he blurted suddenly. She jumped then looked down at her feet.

"I um... I didn't complete that quest," she mumbled, ashamed of how it must look to other people, and the fact that she hadn't succeeded.

"Oh okay. That hard?" he asked, oblivious to her shame. Heathcliff nodded.

"It was only a fluke I succeeded last night," he informed Klein as they moved to a place to sit down and talk. Daja kept glancing around self consciously.

"Dang. Guess I'm not trying that quest for a while," the red haired man sighed as he sat down.

"It's just the martial arts extra skill," Heathcliff pointed out. "It's really only necessary if you plan to ever fight without weapons. And I'm sure it's not really needed for the early levels anyways."

"Then why did you want it?" Klein inquired. Heathcliff shrugged.

"Seemed like it'd be useful to use with a shield. Especially since there are no shield skills," he added.

The conversation moved onto talking about various events and happenings going on in Aincrad. Neither noticed at first that Daja wasn't contributing. She was still embarrassed about the whiskers, and wishing that she didn't have them. While she thought they looked cool they weren't worth the whispers and snickers.

She glanced at the two men, they were currently discussing guilds, and when they would be allowed to form, as none could be created yet. She sighed and stood up. Neither even paused their discussion. She shook her head and walked to the inn where she had a room reserved for the next few days. Anything to get away from the stares. It was getting late anyways. She only paused once to get a little more food to go with what she'd already bought.

She wondered when the two would realize she'd disappeared as she climbed the stairs of the inn to get to the room she'd rented. She shrugged and decided it wasn't important. She was being stupid anyways. All this upset over some whiskers? Stupid really... She entered the hallway, encountered a person, smiled politely... and was greeted by laughter as the player noticed the whiskers. She could hear it echoing behind her as she continued on, trudging with her head down. Yeah, stupid. She tried to ignore the forming tears (Why did the NerveGear have to be that sensitive to her mental state?), but a few slipped out by the time she reached the room.

No longer in the mood to eat, she put the food back in her inventory and sat on the bed trying not to cry even more. She was unsuccessful and ended up pulling her knees to her chest as she cried quietly. This was one of the times it was disconcerting how things felt real and yet didn't feel real. It wasn't long before she was sobbing. She was half glad no one had noticed; she didn't like crying in front of people. Yet, at the same time, it felt like they didn't care.

* * *

**A/n Well, there it is. I know that there's some inconsistencies with the characters. I tried to keep them consistent but well they decided they wanted to be wildly different in some scenes versus others, which really didn't help my writing. Please let the criticisms rip. No insults, but negative things welcome. I want to know what you really think of this. I'm not going to stop writing it, but I know it's not my best. And maybe reading criticisms will help me improve. If the characters stop being stubborn. Seriously...**

"Heathcliff, you're supposed to be super serious, mostly formal, and slowly changing your point of view. Not being a fun loving dad!"

"But I want to be a fun dad! You can't stop me!"

**That's pretty much how it felt as I was writing. Oh well. I got the chapter done in the end.**


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